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Industry

Five Great Ideas to Break Your Videographer’s Block for Sports Videos with Our Music Library

Soundstripe Team

Jan 2, 2019

You’ve worked your butt off, and your YouTube sports or stunt channel is slowly but surely drawing a growing number of eyeballs. Fans and maybe even sponsors are starting to notice all your impressive skills. The elusive dream of YouTube monetization is just around the corner.

There’s just one problem.

You’re running out of video ideas! You can only perform so many stunts or compete in so many events until it starts to feel a little repetitive and your body needs a break. (Maybe your video background music could use are boot, too!)

It’s time to freshen up your YouTube sports channel with new kinds of video formats. Don’t be afraid to get creative, try something new, and push outside your comfort zone.

Three famous sports and performance YouTube channels – DudePerfect, Brooke Ence, and Sofie Dossi – will help you mix it up a little on your YouTube channel. We’ll even help you rehab your old and tired music library, so you can add the perfect musical companion to each new video format.

 

Friend or Celeb Cameo Videos

As much as your fans love seeing you performing cool tricks, it’s time to share the spotlight. If you are a well-known (or growing) name in your field, you probably already have connections to other top athletes. Reach out to your friends or fellow competitors and see if they would be willing to star in a video with you.

One option is to interview your guest star. This will require you to perform some background research, but it can be a relatively easy and fast video to shoot.

Alternatively, you can ask your costar to perform their own tricks, team up with them on a project, or even simply include them in a “day in the life” type of video. (More on that video format below.)

The beauty of bringing a fellow athlete or related personality onto your channel is that you can both take advantage of crossover appeal. You may gain interest from their fans who will stick around, and some of your fans may follow your guest back over to their channel. If you can snag a better-known personality, ride those coattails, but don’t forget to pay it forward.

Inviting a lesser-known personality onto your channel or someone just starting their YouTube journey is not only a good thing to do, but it could also be a valuable investment that pays off when that person finds their fame.

 

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Famous stunt and trick shot team Dude Perfect regularly teams up with celebrities to shoot a wide variety of videos, including this soccer trick shots video starring Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne ofManchester City and Mathieu F Lamini and Calum Chambers of Arsenal.

Update Your Music Library: If you’re used to recording videos full of your best sports and stunt tricks, your music for YouTube is probably filled with powerful and beat-driven music. For an interview video, consider using music in the “corporate” genre. Corporate music is light, feel-good music that keeps the mood positive without distracting viewers.

Tutorial Videos 

Your fans watch your videos because they love seeing your best moves and are interested in your sport or hobby. Why not invite them to join the fun by creating a tutorial video. How-to videos break down difficult movements or stunts and show fans how they can improve their own performance by using your important tips or tricks.

Tutorial videos are easy to prep. After all, you already know how to do the move. Now you just have to figure out how to teach it. Ask yourself, “how did I learn this move?”

Think about:

  • What movements a viewer needs to perfect before they can try your move
  • How they can train or practice for the move
  • How to break down the move into segments
  • Modifications to make the move easier

Be prepared to demonstrate modifications and practice tips.Record yourself performing the move from various angles and slow it down in editing to capture each step in the process. You can also scour your previous footage for examples of the move.

Sofie Dossi is famous for her limber spine and fascinating contortionist acts, which she has demonstrated on America’s Got Talent and Ellen.When she started her YouTube channel, it’s no surprise that one of her earliest videos was designed to help her fans learn how to get extra flexible. (Try not to wince.)

Notice that even though the quality of the video could be better, it’s racked up over a million views. That just goes to show that good personality + an interesting video topic goes a long way toward YouTube success.

Update Your Music Library: Tutorials videos need to focus on the lesson, not the music. Choose positive, upbeat music that will help viewers shift into a can-do mindset as you teach them how to get better at your sport or skill. Many online music sites let you filter music by mood. For tutorial videos, try: Cheerful, happy, heartwarming, hopeful, playful, fun or upbeat.

Behind-the-Scenes or Day-in-the-Life Video

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You are more than just the sum of your athletic talent. Fans appreciate being wowed by cool tricks, but they also love to get to know the personalities behind their favorite YouTube channels. By sharing more about your life, you can strengthen your bond with your fans and keep them coming back for more.

Plus, recording a behind-the-scenes or day-in-the-life video doesn’t have to be hard. Just be yourself and have fun with the process.

A behind-the-scenes video captures what it was like to prepare for pulling off a big move or stunt. It could also showcase your life before, during, and after a competition.

Alternatively, a day-in-the-life simply presents you as you are outside of a specific athletic performance. Great day-in-the-life videos show your other talents and passions or record a special event or activity that may be of interest to fans.

CrossFit superstar Brooke Ence is a master at the day-in-the-life video. Though she’s best known for throwing around super heavy weights, she isn’t afraid to let her fans in on many different aspects of her life, including the not-so-nice parts. In this day-in-the-life video, Brooke undergoes neck surgery.

Update Your Music Library: The music you choose for your behind-the-scenes or day-in-the-life video should closely match the feelings and emotions portrayed in the video. Brooke Ence projects a fun and energetic personality, so many of her videos include pop or electronic music to match her high-octane life.

Bloopers Videos

Nobody can resist a bloopers video. As an athlete or performer, you have surely experienced more than a few fails in your life. If you’ve been recording tricks and stunts for your YouTube channel for awhile, chances are that you have quite a few funny outtakes hiding in your cut footage.

It may take a while, but scour your old footage and dig out these hilarious jewels. Stitch them together into a bloopers video, and voila! You have a brand-new video for the week without the need to do any additional recording.

Not only do fans love, love, LOVE blooper videos, but these videos also showcase your great sense of humor. So, swallow your pride and show the world that you are human.

Even Dude Perfect can’t get their stunts (or their lines)right every time. Here are some of the group’s best bloopers, which have been viewed by over 26 million viewers.

Update Your Music Library: Bloopers are meant to be funny, and the right musical accompaniment is critical to helping audiences get in on the laugh. You definitely want to search for music with a happy, playful, cheerful, or fun mood to showcase your best fails.

Best-of or Compilation Videos

Woman-balancing-on-acrobatic-pole

 

Do you need to get a video out to your hungry audience ASAP but don’t have time to plan and record something new? Then it’s time to weave together a compilation video.

Also known as a “best-of” video, this format allows you to take the top pieces from existing videos and string them together for a spectacular showcase of your abilities. This is literally your chance to put your best moves forward.

The beauty of the best-of video format is that it can save you time and effort by allowing you to re-use your existing footage. Viewers also love watching all of your greatest performances stuffed into a single video. Best-of videos tend to get lots of views and shares, but there is a down side. You can only use this format sparingly after you’ve accumulated lots of footage.

Fortunately, Dude Perfect has been recording YouTube videos for almost ten years, so they have plenty of material to use. Check out this epic compilation video that showcases their best stunts in 2017.

 

 

Where to Update Your Music Library

If your YouTube videos are feeling a little tired or repetitive, these different video formats can give you tons of great ideas and unique material to re-engage your fans and showcase different aspects of your personality and life.

If the high-energy or workout music you choose for YouTube videos is similarly exhausted, it’s time to up your game on that front as well. Take a look at Soundstripe’s extensive collection of royalty free music. We offer high quality music in a wide variety of genres and themes, so you can explore lots of different sounds for your new and exciting video formats.

The best part is that you can gain unlimited access to our entire music library with a subscription. Sign up today and start mixing things up on your YouTube sports channel.

Further reading

Interested in reading more top resources and getting our best filmmaking tips and tricks? Here are a couple of our most popular articles from across the Soundstripe blog: